Need help with brothers color makeover

14 years ago

Brick is pink/blue undertones (house was built in the 60s) in a great neighborhood
Roof is architectural shingles black, but looks grey
Need to change shutter colors (and shutters!)
Need color for trim
Need color for new doors with brass hardware
Would a blue-grey shutter work with the brick colors?

Thank you!!

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PRO

Mint Design

14 years ago

last modified: 14 years ago

I am ok with the rail...you don't care for the style of the house anyway so why add to it? I am partial to yellow with white and/or grey and am attaching some photos to give you the idea of the combinations....use a lighter yellow or grey if you paint the brick but if you paint the door yellow use an intense yellow...(see photos again). You can avoid almost all maintenance on painted brick if you prepare and prime the brick properly first. Change your shutters to ones that would actually fit the windows and add window boxes which will add curb appeal and more importantly serve to elongate your windows which will detract from the 60's style you find so unappealing. Consider layering your foundation planting. The back and tallest can even be a vine on the house....consider creeping fig if you live in the correct zone, otherwise an ivy or simply taller shrubs that lend themselves to training...I would make them architectural...going higher between windows and on the ends of your home. In front of those plant your second layer also an evergreen but in a different hue....silvery green, for example, if the first is a rich deep green which is best. The front layer should be the shortest 1/3 and can even be annuals or a blooming shrub if you prefer. Consider topiaries in planters on either side of you rails and eliminate the grassy hedge blocking the steps from view. Some specimen trees which offer interest for all seasons...blooms in the spring, bones in the winter, fruit of shade in the summer and color in the fall. would be nice in the front yard and surround them with trimmed boxwood or natural azaleas per your taste. A circle of mulch will only add to the 60's feel. Good luck with your project and your brother!

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Comments (22)

lindy1
14 years ago
The cottage style rails do not go with the classic style of the house. Go with perhaps a more modern look there .Check out your neighborhood for colors and porch designs that you like. This is so personel, take your camera and tour. I'm quite sure you will find options that you haven't even thought of. Have fun!
PRO
JAN MOYER
14 years ago
Whitewash alllllll the brick in the palest silvery grey. Yes to a different railing entrance, but in the meantime, paint it black. Trim all the landscaping, bushes asap. It appears there may be some gutter work needed as well. Once the brick is painted... paint the front door black. Then take your time on a railing/entrance change. Elbow grease first!
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bonnielynn75
14 years ago
I agree with lindy1 that the stair rail is not right with the style of the house. From afar the brick color is not so pinkish. trim looks too yellow I wonder if a brown/black.beige colour scheme might be more attractive.
benjamin moore
antique copper 1164 for shutters
barbados sand 1094 for trim
bittersweet chocolate 2114-10 (almost black) for door
check the swatches,
have fun
PRO
JAN MOYER
14 years ago
ps ...shutters charcoal , railing charcoal..... also good. !!! First the brick paint and trimming of landscaping.
User
14 years ago
You have great "bones," and all the items you've mentioned are exactly the areas to address, plus one. Let's go down the list.

(1) Roof -- painting the soffet the same color as the roof -- charcoal grey, will give the roof a heftier, thicker, more important feeling, rather than looking like thin veneer.

(2) Keep the shutters, but paint them a true white. The pink and blue undertones of the brick are cool colors, and the warm ivory trim color is fighting with that.

(3) Paint all trim the same true white, again eliminating the warmer tones of the ivory.

(4) Paint the new door black, again paint the trim around it in the true white.

Last, keep the porch and step railing, paint it the true white, but remove the lattice centers and replace them with black iron, or black painted wood spindles, to repeat the black/white contrast of the front door/trim.

Jan Moyer mentioned whitewashing the brick, and that's a wonderful way to "age" the brick, but that's a job for a pro. Once you apply paint to a brick, it is forever, and if it's not done properly, you will have a horrible mess on your hands, and a ruined house. So if you decide to take that advice, proceed only with a professional who can offer samples of other whitewashed brick projects -- not photos, but actual addresses of buildings completed in that fashion. I agree with Jan that It's a wonderful look, just proceed with caution.

Good luck!
julesvernes
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you all for your suggestions. :)
Jan- I would love to paint the brick and have been suggesting he do this for 2 years but he really does not want the maintenance of painted brick. If it were my house, it would have been done already!!!
(But I did talk him into a fabulous custom kitchen last year! So that is where he spent a big chunk of money. New layout and great traffic flow. All new custom cabinets and island). Now if i could just get that same appeal on the exterior, it would be a cohesive design!! But he is butting heads over painted brick.
I dislike the shiny black shutters. I dislike the buttercup trim.

Lindy1- I have toured the neighborhood & the majority of owners are stuck in this 60s
age and havent made changes and have this ugly yellow trim! :D Must have had the same painter. :) A few new young families are moving in, so it is slowly changing. Several are painting the brick houses or tearing down & rebuilding.

bonnielyn75- Thank you I will check out these colors! They look very appealing. Love the bittersweet chocolate!

JoWhite- The gutters will be added next! So when you said to paint the soffet the same
color as the grey roof, I guess you would choose grey Gutters? The gutters will definetly
give the roof a more hefty feel. ( He had hail damage, so they were just taken off last month).
I have never liked the trim color but it has been on there since 1960 and the previous owners never made a change..So some of the homes are stuck in a time warp! :)
Im not so sure about pure white on the shutters? Always liked a darker color for shutters.
If you have a picture, pls send it, I would love to see it!

Thank you all! You are so kind to respond. I appreciate all your time and suggestions!!

jules
PRO
JAN MOYER
14 years ago
There is no maintenance to painted brick!!! Once it's on there.... trust me.. it is on there!!!! The brick color is dated. ....its the best improvement you can make!
User
14 years ago
Below is a link for a brick house with white shutters. Again, I would paint the front door black, and if you're adding gutters, keep the soffet and gutters gray, but more a medium gray to make the gutters "disappear." You will also see this in the same stock photo.

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-2859810/stock-photo-red-brick-house-with-white-shutters-and-bright-green-manicured-lawn-garden.html
PRO
Naselari
14 years ago
First off I would widen the entry steps to encompass entire porch way, and tier it slowly, to make it inviting, thus widening entry towards front. Paint the brick, unless you want to keep that color. Paint it grey-blue, and you can keep the color of the shutters, one less cost. Paint the front door red(variation of it, as it complements w/out taking away from the paint exterior on bricks. The roofline overhead the porch needs some serious attention, and the corner pole(needs to have a bigger presence(looks puny) and forgotten amongst the design esthetic, besides being able to hold up that roofline. You need gutters too. Railing looks like someone put trellis sections together. The shrubs need some serious maintenance, or once you've done to the home, then you can look to re-create your landscape according to homes presence and entry.
melsplace1
14 years ago
I like the black for the shutters - and agree that black would be great for the front door. I do think that the front porch is an issue and you might want to consider some very modern design for this - like wrought iron - in black - to make it look more mid-century modern. I also agree that the trim color is not complimentary with the brick color and could use an update. I think a warm white would be a good choice - there's 100's of whites to choose from. And lastly, in addition to landscaping fixes, you might want to add to the front with a nice broad walkway from the steps to the street, lined with shrubs or flowers or both to bring the front door to the public, rather than walking in from the drive (provided of course you have sidewalks across the front of the property). You might also consider window boxes - for summer flowers!
lou cathcart
14 years ago
Why not just remove the shutters? They never actually worked as shutters, they aren't the right size to work so they were originally put there because that's what was done at the time. This in and of itself with make the home more contemporary (like the aforementioned kitchen)! I agree with other comments about gutters and painted trim should match along the roof edge. Choose the gutters first as they come in limited colors, then match your paint to them. Also loose the lattice as suggested. Once shutters are removed the entrance will become the focus.
The color you paint the door depends on the direction it faces.... dark paint colors fade in southern and western exposures so keep that in mind. I'd leave the "brick" as is, I'm wondering if it's real brick with such wide spaces between individual bricks! So I'd leave the brick alone, I'd choose a muted dark green (more olive than blue-green) for the trim and gutters (instead of the grey) since the house really does look more red-violet (from a distance) than the "close-up" color of the bricks. Then paint the door a less muted green of the same chroma (because it's so recessed and can use more color). Let me know what you think!
julesvernes
Original Author
14 years ago
Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions!

I added some more photos so you could see the garage. It is very Retro 60s.
I also added the back of the house where he put it new windows when he gutted his
kitchen. He went with white instead of an off white, but he didnt know any better..

postsprawldesign- love the idea of muted dark green (olive). Hadnt thought of that.
Or of loosing the shutters completely! I have been trying to get him to Change the shutters to louvered slat shutters. So we wil look at taking them off. But now that the shutters have been off for 50 years do you think the brick would show a dark impression from the sun fading it?

melsplace- Do you have a photo of black wrought iron type pattern you think would look nice? I agree the trim is wrong!

**Porch- Does anyone have any porch design pics that I could show him to transform his porch area?
melsplace1
14 years ago
Of course this site has lots of super fancy stuff - but there's lots to choose from for rails and pickets: http://en.arteferro.com/prodotti/

Here's a source for columns: http://retrorenovation.com/2011/08/16/add-curb-appeal-to-your-mid-century-home-with-decorative-iron-or-aluminum-porch-columns-3-sources-for-this-old-school-produc/

I offer this suggestion for two reasons - first - my parent's 1962 brick ranch has these columns across the front - they're original and classic for the period; second, it takes the colonial revival type effect of the column and handrail away and replaces it with the more modern effect. I think it would really amp up the front with both the rails and columns.

As for the shutters - they too are a colonial revival type thing - making a colonial out of a ranch. It is a pet peeve of mine that people use shutters that aren't really shutters - so taking them off will be an adjustment - but in the end - it will look better! A good power washing should eliminate the color difference between the covered brick and the exposed brick.

lastly - here's some "e-how" link information on this type of wrought iron detail! http://www.ehow.com/how_2214765_replace-wrought-iron-porch-post.html
julesvernes
Original Author
14 years ago
melsplace1- Thank you for the links on the iron work! It is beautiful! My parents also have a 60 ranch but have added on. What color would you paint the iron work/rails? Would you encase his porch with rails?
Its funny how I hated this retro look of iron on a ranch and now its what people go back to. I think several people in his neighborhood did this lattice porch rail to get rid of the retro 60s iron look.
julesvernes
Original Author
14 years ago
Another angle of house
melsplace1
14 years ago
Julesvernes-I think I'd replace the column and the porch rails as they are with the iron stuff. To make the column beefy enough, I'd do two columns - at right angles to themselves to form an outside corner. I do believe that some building codes require that porches that are more than 30" (?) above grade have to have a railing for safety. You'll have to check what your area requires. If it were me - I'd have them done in black. I love the look of black with this color of brick.

I've been involved in historic preservation/restoration for a long time, and since I grew up with the mid-century modern really didn't like it. However, now that I'm a "mid-century modern" prototype myself :-) I'm growing to appreciate the style. I've seen too many times great old historic buildings that have suffered from "modernization" or "updating" done poorly without concern and sensitivity to their historic character. Truly, this building is now "historic" - it is 50 yrs old+ and it's historic character and architectural elements should be embraced. That's why I suggested the iron work. You can also consider a replacement door - the 50's door - with the 3 little windows - there's other styles around but that comes to mind - would also be in keeping with the era. You can have lots of fun - and even better, spend your brother's money!!
GizV
14 years ago
I'd go with navy blue trim and shutters and a white door to go with white windows. (im assuming those are not wood frames, but the newer material)
The idea of adding a matching column to right side of stairs is great and would balance it out while making it even more welcoming.
Add a walkway out from the stairs across the lawn either to the sidewalk or curved towards driveway and parallel the driveway to the street.
Inside the porch area, left hand wall. I'd hang outdoor art in metal or clay that expresses the homeowners personal taste.
PRO
B Popowski
14 years ago
We just finished staining our brick - went from orangey to purpley black. We didn't want to paint because of maintenance issues. I did each brick individually - lots of work but the kind you can zone out to. It looks great!
julesvernes
Original Author
14 years ago
Melsplace1- Thanks for all the advice! I love the last comment..its always more fun spending someone elses money:) And I do remember those doors with the 3 little windows bc we grew up with one! haha

B Popowski- Wow! That is impressive! Every brick. ANd it looks amazing! Pls send a full snapshot so we can see yr beautiful home! I also included another photo that I had taken in Charleston where the homeowner had blended paint instead of just using a solid color on stucco. It was like a piece of art. Please comment if you have ever seen this technique.. (I know I can't do it on my brothers house, but I thought it was very creative for a stucco treatment.)

GizV- I like the idea of navy blue shutters. I hadnt thought about navy blue trim...then what would you suggest for the gutters? I have always thought of trim being a lighter color instead of darker...But I think I like those options...

Thank you all so much. This has been such a pleasure to hear from so many creative people!
GizV
14 years ago
Gutters and soffit. I'd go dark gray for the gutters and soffit as Jo White suggested. Once you decide on the color scheme you'll need to pull color samples to keep them all in the same tonal family. I'd want it all to compliment the brick to create harmony.
The Charleston house is stunning. It has the softness of a water color painting.
PRO
Mint Design
14 years ago
last modified: 14 years ago
I am ok with the rail...you don't care for the style of the house anyway so why add to it? I am partial to yellow with white and/or grey and am attaching some photos to give you the idea of the combinations....use a lighter yellow or grey if you paint the brick but if you paint the door yellow use an intense yellow...(see photos again). You can avoid almost all maintenance on painted brick if you prepare and prime the brick properly first. Change your shutters to ones that would actually fit the windows and add window boxes which will add curb appeal and more importantly serve to elongate your windows which will detract from the 60's style you find so unappealing. Consider layering your foundation planting. The back and tallest can even be a vine on the house....consider creeping fig if you live in the correct zone, otherwise an ivy or simply taller shrubs that lend themselves to training...I would make them architectural...going higher between windows and on the ends of your home. In front of those plant your second layer also an evergreen but in a different hue....silvery green, for example, if the first is a rich deep green which is best. The front layer should be the shortest 1/3 and can even be annuals or a blooming shrub if you prefer. Consider topiaries in planters on either side of you rails and eliminate the grassy hedge blocking the steps from view. Some specimen trees which offer interest for all seasons...blooms in the spring, bones in the winter, fruit of shade in the summer and color in the fall. would be nice in the front yard and surround them with trimmed boxwood or natural azaleas per your taste. A circle of mulch will only add to the 60's feel. Good luck with your project and your brother!